同章对照

Sitting around Vulcan’s workbench in the depths of her lair, two Genomes brainstormed around a sketch. For the past hour, they had struggled to solve one of the world’s most important questions; some would say, the only question worth answering.

How many guns could you fit into one power armor?

“It’ll be better with rocket launchers,” Ryan said, discussing his armor’s design. Vulcan had chosen a design that fit the courier’s body rather than an enormous mech; an exoskeleton rather than a tank. “Two hidden switchblades below the arms, a big chest blaster, mounted turrets…”

“The goal is to increase your power, not blow up half of Rome,” Jasmine told him with a grin.

“Personally, I can settle for the Dynamis HQ.”

“In that case, you will need a bigger laser.” Vulcan scribbled on the design. “Nuclear-powered.”

“Let’s call it the Chernobyl,” Ryan said with a deadpan face. “You think some of their Genomes might survive it?”

“Yes, but they will become radioactive. If the laser doesn’t kill them, cancer will.”

Ryan looked at Jasmine with absolute respect. “So cruel, it becomes art.”

“I know,” she replied. “Now that I think of it, I could actually design a cancer ray. That would be fucking nasty.”

It was such a fun date, spending quality time with his girlfriend designing weapons of mass destruction. Then again, the courier had spent most of the weekend at Jasmine’s place, so the two had grown more familiar with each other. Jamie was too busy dealing with his new promotion, and while Dynamis hadn’t yet delivered on its promised retaliations, Vulcan had all but ordered Ryan to lay low for a while.

Well, as best as someone like the courier could.

“If your theory is correct and all true Genomes produce a Red Flux variant, then it should be possible to contain this hypothetical energy, even if we can’t observe it.” Jasmine brainstormed out loud while looking at the ceiling, both feet on the workbench. “I mean, your plushie keeps a creature from this Violet dimension sealed from what you told me.”

“I wouldn’t say sealed is the best ter—”

“Doesn’t matter, it can still contain it and prevent its energy from leaking out,” Jasmine interrupted him. “If we combine both our technologies, then we could design something keeping this hypothetical ‘Violet Flux energy’ inside you. Instead of dispersing the heat, we’ll ramp it up.”

And in theory, this would increase the energy his power would be able to access. “I love it when you talk dirty.”

“I’m so fucking excited about this, Ryan.” Jasmine was trembling from impatience. Much like Len and all Geniuses Ryan had met, she felt happiest when doing mad science. “We’re going to discover the source of powers, change the whole world. Scratch that, we’ll own it.”

“If you could, would you change your power?” Ryan asked innocently. “Trade it for something else?”

“Nah, I’m pretty glad to have mine. Hell, I wish I got it earlier, though I wonder how much my state of mind back then affected my power.” Jasmine glanced at him strangely. “You?”

Ryan sighed. “I dunno,” he admitted. “I’ve hated and loved my power in equal measures, but now, it’s just part of who I am. I can’t imagine myself without it.”

“I get it,” Vulcan replied, though frowning. “You’re a pretty private guy, you know that?”

“Do you want to know my secret identity?”

“You’re asking me questions you don’t want to ask yourself, and I don’t like that,” Jasmine replied. “I ain’t your psychiatrist, Ryan. In the end, everyone is on their own.”

“I know,” Ryan replied, his mood turning sour. “But it would be nice to be able to count on someone else long-term.”

“Close your eyes peacefully, knowing someone has got your back for life? I thought I had that once. Didn’t work out.” Jasmine pointed at her mech with her chin. “The only things you can count on are those you made yourself.”

Yeah, Ryan felt the same way about his car. “Do you know of the hedgehog's dilemma?”

“What’s that, a pet disease?”

“Two hedgehogs seek to move closer and share heat during cold weather, but they cannot avoid hurting one another with their spines. They want to snuggle, but that would mean lowering their guard.”

Jasmine quickly caught on. “Are you the hedgehog, or am I?”

“We both are.”

“Well, that’s fucking pessimistic,” Jasmine replied.

“It’s experience talking.”

Truth was, Ryan sincerely hoped that Jasmine’s armor technology would produce results; that somehow, things would be different this time.

Maybe he was a fool, but the courier would never stop believing things could improve.

He faced deadlines though. Though he had lost many men, Hannifat Lecter was still toiling inside Mechron’s bunker, and Ryan didn’t see any way to evict him without casualties or revealing the base’s existence. The best solution he had found was to recruit Shroud to invade the bunker, but the glass manipulator refused to move without his team’s support, and Leo Hargraves wouldn’t hit New Rome until next week.

“It could have happened differently,” Ryan said.

“What?”

“Your power,” the courier said. “It’s not just the potion. It’s part you, part random.”

His girlfriend frowned. “What do you mean?”

“If you give two different Red Elixirs to one person in the same circumstances, he won’t get the same ability. If you give the same Elixir to one person while he’s afraid for his life or feeling safe, he will get a different power, though within the color’s classification. Same if he’s healthy, poisoned, or irradiated.”

“You can’t repeat an experience in the exact same circumstances,” Jasmine replied, skeptical.

Ryan could, and he did.

At one point, the courier thought he might eventually find a way to replicate his power... but while he had learned a great deal about Elixirs, he also learned it couldn’t be done.

Jasmine moved from her seat, grabbed a water bottle, and sat on Ryan’s lap as if she owned the place. He responded by putting his arms around her waist; she was warm to the touch. “But if I humor your theory,” she said, putting her back against his chest, “what you’re saying is, if someone had gotten my Elixir, they wouldn’t have become a weapon Genius?”

Ryan shook his head. “And if you had received my Elixir, you wouldn’t have gotten my power. The Elixir partly adapts itself to the person drinking it. And once the unique power has been assigned, nobody else can get the exact same one as yours.”

That was only true for the original Elixirs though.

“Makes sense. Augustus probably managed to use two without going crazy due to a unique genetic quirk, according to Dynamis’ research.” Jasmine rested her head on his shoulder, her face thoughtful. “How did you get yours?”

“A friend found it among a batch of three. I took mine while trying to get out of a hopeless situation.” The real tragedy was Len though. Shortie had won a power she would have loved under normal circumstances, but one that couldn’t grant her dearest wish. “And you, darling?”

“Stole it while trying to flee Libya,” Jasmine said with a scowl. “If you think Italy was a shithole during the Wars, then you haven’t seen my homeland. Now Dynamis owns the oil field, and nobody controls anything else. It’s all tribes and marauders killing each other.”

“Can’t be worse than Monaco.”

She raised an eyebrow, a little curious. “What’s up in Monaco?”

“Trust me.” Ryan looked at her seriously. “No matter how desperate things get, don’t go to Monaco.”

She chuckled at his confusing words. “Comb my hair.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I ask you to, minion.”

Ryan chuckled playfully, raising Jasmine’s hair and assembling it into a bun. The courier looked at the neural interface below them with interest. “Can you make a second one of these?”

”Sure,” she said. “I’ve got to admit it though, it’s not really my tech. It’s Dynamis’.”

“Dynamis?”

“Hector has a decade-long project about downloading minds in new bodies to achieve immortality. Scan a whole brain and transfer it into someone else’s. I guess the man doesn’t want his sons to inherit anytime soon.”

“I always knew corporations would eventually find a way to trademark humanity.”

“They can’t, even if Hector would do that if he could. A brain is a complex thing, and it’s double the complexity when you’re a Genome. So they need cloned bodies, which their creepy Dr. Tyrano can provide.” Jasmine shrugged, before sipping from her water bottle. “That machine-human brain interface was one of their milestones. I’m not sure how far they have gotten since I left.”

“And you managed to remake that device from memory?”

“While I’m a weapon Genius, I’m also a genius, period.” Jasmine was too modest to boast. “That’s why I’m interested in your Chronoradio’s brain-interface. My human reaction time can’t entirely keep up with my armor while I use manual controls, but with a perfect interface...”

“A question crossed my mind,” Ryan said. “What happens if we each wear an interface connected to the other’s brain, and then do child-unfriendly stuff?”

She looked at him with a sly smirk, lightly kissing him. “We’ll have to try for research purposes,” the Genius said, before tossing her empty bottle away. Her boyfriend froze time to put it in the trash can. “But that will wait for later. It’s almost time to go to Ischia island.”

“Do you think my cashmere suit will protect me from the radiation?”

“No,” she smirked at him. “But my mech will.”

A true winning team.

Today was the Ischia island defense perimeter inspection; and while he wouldn’t be allowed inside the superlab itself, Narcinia had asked that Ryan come to visit. She probably felt quite lonely on that island.

Strangely though, Livia had given her permission and asked Vulcan to bring ‘extra muscle.’

“I still don’t get why the princess wants you to come, no offense,” Jasmine said.

“I don’t get her either,” Ryan admitted. He had the feeling Livia had her own agenda and played with her cards close to her chest. Curiosity about how their powers interacted couldn’t explain everything about her behavior. “Do you know what her power is?”

Vulcan shook her head. “She keeps it under wraps. All I know is that she’s a pseudo precognitive who can interact with alternate universes, but she doesn’t advertise.”

Considering Ryan intended to destroy the island to settle his deal with Mr. See-Through, she didn’t see very far. Vulcan hadn’t received any tactical advice or warning in the loops where the Junkyard raid went wrong either.

Either Livia lied about her abilities, or she had some harsh limitations.

“This inspection is a waste of time,” Jasmine vented off. “That superlab is almost as well-defended as this armory, and my place isn’t haunted. You would need an army to bring it down.”

Challenge accepted.

And if Dynamis truly had a brain uploading project, Ryan would need to pay them a visit too. Len had already sent him the design of her communications system, though it was the equivalent of receiving a car’s computerized parts while missing the engine, the wheels, and everything else.

Now that he had seen Vulcan’s armor design, Ryan had memorized it. If he could combine Len’s tech with Jasmine’s, hook it up with the Chronoradio, and steal whatever brain-scan Dynamis had available… maybe he wouldn’t be alone anymore.

For the first time in a long while, Ryan felt hope.

---

The island of Ischia used to be a paradise once. A beautiful resort in the middle of Naples’ bay, where tourists from all of Europe came to enjoy its thermal sources and fresh air.

Somewhere along the way, the fabled paradise had turned into a hellhole.

Ryan didn’t know why Mechron had bombed this island, but he had done a pretty good job of it. Even more than fifteen years after the deed, a purple miasma covered most of the area, a plague so toxic it had killed every lifeform there. Plants, animals, humans… The substance's toxicity and radioactivity had transformed the island into a graveyard. Thick iron walls equipped with wind turbines circled Ischia’s coast, perhaps to prevent the miasma from reaching the mainland.

The only part of the island with any sign of life whatsoever was the Castello Aragonese, a pre-Christ fortress. Built on a volcanic islet, the castle was connected to the island by a stone bridge, shattered yet never rebuilt. In stark contrast with the rest of the island, the castle’s outer layers housed plant life; overgrowth and crimson, alien flowers formed a ring around the fortress.

Vulcan had spared no expense on the defenses either. Unmanned turrets covered the ancient stone walls, alongside automated anti-air defenses. Mooks in power armor kept watch over the facility, equipped with flamethrowers, mini-guns, and rocket launchers. Ryan would need to do a suicide run to get past the perimeter.

The Castello Aragonese had seen many masters come and go since its construction, from the Romans to the Kingdom of Naples. But the Augusti were the first to turn it into a drug lab.

After she landed her mech on the outer wall, unbothered by the defenses, Ryan stepped out of it; much to his surprise, the air was breathable, probably thanks to the mutant plants surrounding the lab.

He found Livia waiting nearby, looking at the Mediterranean Sea with longing. Sparrow and Mortimer acted as her bodyguards.

“Quicksave, Vulcan, welcome,” Livia politely greeted the newcomers, while Vulcan emerged from her suit. Armored soldiers immediately checked on Ryan, in case he had smuggled anything dangerous on the island. Well, more dangerous than usual. “I appreciate your punctuality.”

“We had to be in time for the group visit,” Ryan deadpanned.

“The poor Mortimer didn’t get any free candy at the end,” Mortimer complained.

“I’m afraid you will not be allowed inside, Quicksave,” said Livia. “The inner workings of this facility are top-secret for all but our elite members. Instead, you will stay outside and assist the staff in case we are attacked.”

“Can’t I get a meth cook internship?” the courier asked.

“No, but I’m sure Narcinia will show you the gardens when we are done,” Livia replied, before speaking to an empty spot. “Geist, please, don’t be shy.”

A freezing wind blew on the outer walls, while a yellow, ectoplasmic skull the size of a house manifested above the group. A swirling vortex of colored dust and eldritch energies surrounded the leering apparition.

“Hi, guys.”

But the ghost’s small, casual voice was completely at odd with his sinister appearance. Nobody had reacted with shock either, perhaps because they lived in a world with far weirder things.

“Somebody call the Ghostbusters,” Ryan said. “We’ve got a ghost problem.”

“I’m François,” the enormous skull replied casually. “Or Geist.”

“I prefer Casper the Ghost,” Ryan said, Jasmine chuckling. “Also, your name is François, but you use a German nickname? You aren’t one of these self-hating Frenchmen, right?”

“I thought about using the Spectre, but James Bond got there first.”

“Your whole existence has a lot of terrible implications,” Vulcan said. “Namely, it means there’s a freaking afterlife.”

Personally, Ryan thought it was simply Yellow Elixirs being weird, but Casper seemed to agree with her. “Heaven is all yellow and golden, though I only got a glimpse,” the ghost said, “I’ve been trying to get back in there, but so far, the gates are barred. Hopefully, Father Torque will manage to exorcise me.”

“Have you tried suicide?” Ryan suggested. “I know it’s not very Catholic, but maybe you can possess a corpse and then kill yourself again? If you try often enough, maybe it will stick.”

“I tried everything.”

“Fire? Ropes? Nuclear detonation?”

The skull said nothing for a second. “Haven’t done the last one,” he admitted.

“You won’t,” Livia said, her tone suddenly serious. “I won’t allow it.”

“The worst death is fire though,” Casper the Ghost argued, the skull shuddering. “Cooked meat is so painful, it makes you a vegetarian.”

“The rope is the best suicide method, by far,” Ryan said. “It’s painful, but if you do it the right way, it gets weirdly enjoyable. Takes a lot of trying to get the handle on it though.”

“Only one suicide attempt out of three succeeds,” Mortimer said with a morbid tone, “I feel so bad for the other two.”

“Mortimer, don’t encourage them,” Sparrow chastised him.

“Geist, please be on the lookout for invaders,” Livia declared, her voice silencing everyone. “The odds aren’t good today. I can perceive alternate realities from my point of view, but a lot of them have become dark lately.”

“Dark as in, you switched out the lights?” Jasmine deadpanned.

“Dark as in, I died in them.” She said that with the same detachment as Quicksave himself. “So fast I didn’t see the cause.”

“Well, that’s ominous,” Ryan said.

“I’ll say it again,” Vulcan brushed it off. “Attacking this place is assisted suicide, princess.”

“We will put that boast to the test.” Livia smiled before looking at Quicksave. “We will meet again later.”

Jasmine followed the Augusti princess and her bodyguards as they walked inside the facility, leaving Ryan and Casper outside. The courier looked at the sea, a simple question on his mind.

How could he blow this island up?

在伏尔甘巢穴的深处，两名基因者坐在她的工作台旁，对着一张草图集思广益。过去一小时里，他们一直在努力解决世上最重要的问题之一；也有人会说，这是唯一值得解答的问题。

一套动力装甲里究竟能塞进多少枪炮？

“加上火箭发射器就更好了。”瑞恩一边讨论自己的装甲设计，一边说道。伏尔甘选择的不是庞大的机甲，而是贴合信使体型的设计——是外骨骼，而非坦克。“两条手臂下面各藏一把弹簧刀，胸口装一门大能量炮，再架上炮塔……”

“目的是增强你的能力，不是炸掉半个罗马。”贾丝敏咧嘴笑道。

“就我个人而言，炸掉迪纳米斯总部也能凑合。”

“那样的话，你需要一门更大的激光炮。”伏尔甘在设计图上写写画画。“核动力的。”

“就叫它切尔诺贝利吧。”瑞恩面无表情地说，“你觉得他们那边会有基因者活下来吗？”

“会，但他们会带上放射性。激光要是没杀死他们，癌症也会要了他们的命。”

瑞恩满怀敬意地看着贾丝敏。“残忍到了这个份上，就是艺术了。”

“我知道。”她答道，“这么一想，我还真能设计出癌症射线。那可真他妈歹毒。”

陪女朋友一起设计大规模杀伤性武器，共度美好时光，这约会可真有意思。说起来，信使周末的大半时间都待在贾丝敏这里，两人也因此愈发熟悉彼此。杰米忙着应付升职带来的种种事务，根本无暇他顾。而迪纳米斯虽然还没兑现报复的威胁，伏尔甘却几乎是命令瑞恩先低调一阵子。

好吧，至少是在信使这种人做得到的范围内，尽量低调。

“如果你的理论正确，所有真正的基因者都会产生某种红色通量的变体，那就算我们观测不到，也应该有办法把这种假想能量约束起来。”贾丝敏双脚架在工作台上，望着天花板，把思路一一说了出来。“我的意思是，照你所说，你那个毛绒玩偶就封印着一只来自紫色维度的生物。”

“我不觉得封印是最合适的用词——”

“无所谓，它还是能把那东西关在里面，不让能量泄漏出来。”贾丝敏打断了他，“把我们俩的技术结合起来，就能设计出某种东西，把这种假想的‘紫色通量能量’留在你体内。不再把热量散出去，而是让它不断攀升。”

理论上，这会增加他的能力所能调用的能量。“我就喜欢听你说这些荤话。”

“我他妈兴奋坏了，瑞恩。”贾丝敏已经迫不及待，身子都在发颤。和蕾恩以及瑞恩见过的所有天才一样，搞疯狂科学研究时，她最开心。“我们会找到超能力的源头，改变整个世界。不，收回前言，我们会把整个世界收入囊中。”

“如果可以，你会换掉自己的能力吗？”瑞恩看似随意地问，“换成别的什么？”

“不会，我对自己的能力挺满意的。妈的，我巴不得早点得到它呢，不过我也想过，当时的心态究竟对我的能力有多大影响。”贾丝敏神色古怪地瞥了他一眼。“你呢？”

瑞恩叹了口气。“不知道。”他承认，“对我的能力，我有多爱，就有多恨。但现在，它已经是我的一部分了。我想象不出没有它的自己会是什么样。”

“我懂。”伏尔甘答道，却皱起了眉。“你很少跟别人交底，知道吗？”

“你想知道我的秘密身份？”

“你在问我一些你不愿意问自己的问题，我不喜欢这样。”贾丝敏答道，“我不是你的心理医生，瑞恩。到头来，每个人都只能靠自己。”

“我知道。”瑞恩答道，心情低落下来。“但如果能有个长久依靠的人，那也很好。”

“知道这辈子都会有人护着你，就能安心闭上眼睛？我也曾经以为自己拥有过。结果没成。”贾丝敏用下巴指了指自己的机甲。“唯一靠得住的，就是你亲手造出来的东西。”

是啊，瑞恩对自己的车也有同感。“你听说过刺猬困境吗？”

“什么东西，宠物病？”

“天冷的时候，两只刺猬想凑近一点，互相取暖，却免不了用身上的刺扎伤彼此。它们想依偎在一起，但那就意味着放下防备。”

贾丝敏立刻听懂了。“你是刺猬，还是我是？”

“我们都是。”

“行吧，真他妈悲观。”贾丝敏答道。

“这是经验之谈。”

其实，瑞恩是真心希望贾丝敏的装甲技术能够取得成果；希望不管通过什么办法，这一次能有所不同。

也许他是个傻瓜，但信使永远不会放弃相信，事情还能变得更好。

只是，留给他的时间并非无限。虽然折损了不少手下，汉尼胖·莱克特仍在梅克隆的地堡里埋头苦干。瑞恩想不出什么办法，能既不造成人员伤亡、也不暴露基地的存在，就把他赶出去。目前最好的方案是拉上裹尸布，一起攻入地堡，但这个操控玻璃的家伙没有队友支援就不肯行动，而利奥·哈格雷夫斯要到下周才会抵达新罗马。

“本来也可能是另一种结果。”瑞恩说。

“什么？”

“你的能力。”信使说，“不光取决于药水。一部分取决于你，一部分是随机的。”

他的女朋友皱起眉。“什么意思？”

“在相同的情况下，让同一个人分别喝下两种不同的红色灵药，他得到的能力不会一样。让同一个人在担心自己小命不保，和觉得自己很安全时喝下同一种灵药，他也会得到不同的能力，但都属于那个颜色的分类。他身体健康、中毒，或者受过辐射，也一样会影响结果。”

“你不可能在完全相同的条件下重复一次实验。”贾丝敏将信将疑地答道。

瑞恩能，而且他做过。

曾有一段时间，信使以为自己终究能找到复制自身能力的方法……然而，他在深入了解灵药的同时，也明白了这件事不可能办到。

贾丝敏起身离开座位，拿了一瓶水，理所当然地坐上瑞恩的大腿，仿佛那本来就是她的地盘。他顺势环住她的腰；她的身体暖暖的。“不过，姑且顺着你的理论说下去，”她背靠着他的胸口说道，“你的意思是，如果别人拿到了我的灵药，就不会成为武器天才？”

瑞恩摇了摇头。“而且，就算你拿到我的灵药，也不会得到我的能力。灵药会根据服用者做出一部分调整。一旦那份独一无二的能力分配了出去，别人就再也得不到和你完全一样的能力了。”

不过，这只适用于原版灵药。

“说得通。照迪纳米斯的研究，奥古斯都能喝下两瓶灵药而不发疯，大概就是因为某种独特的基因特性。”贾丝敏把头枕在他的肩上，若有所思。“你的那瓶是怎么来的？”

“一个朋友发现了一批，一共三瓶。我当时想从绝境里逃出去，就喝下了自己那瓶。”不过，真正的悲剧在蕾恩身上。小矮个得到了一种换作平常一定会让她欣喜不已的能力，可它偏偏无法实现她最渴望的心愿。“你呢，亲爱的？”

“逃离利比亚的时候偷的。”贾丝敏阴着脸说，“如果你觉得大战期间的意大利是个烂地方，那你是没见过我的老家。现在油田归迪纳米斯，其他地方谁也管不了。到处都是部落和劫掠者在互相残杀。”

“总不至于比摩纳哥还糟。”

她扬起眉毛，有了点好奇。“摩纳哥怎么了？”

“相信我。”瑞恩认真地看着她。“不管走投无路到什么地步，都别去摩纳哥。”

这番莫名其妙的话让她轻笑起来。“给我梳头。”

“什么？为什么？”

“因为我让你梳，小跟班。”

瑞恩嬉笑着拢起贾丝敏的头发，盘成一个发髻。信使饶有兴致地看着头发下面的神经接口。“这东西你能再做一个吗？”

“当然。”她说，“不过我得承认，严格来说，这不是我的技术，是迪纳米斯的。”

“迪纳米斯？”

“埃克托有个搞了十年的项目，想把意识下载进新的身体，实现永生。扫描整个大脑，再把它转移到别人的脑子里。我猜那家伙是没打算让儿子们近期内继承家业。”

“我早就知道，大公司迟早会想出办法，拿人类本身去注册商标。”

“他们办不到，虽然埃克托要是能办到，肯定会干。大脑很复杂，基因者的大脑复杂程度还要翻倍。所以他们需要克隆身体，那就由他们那个阴森森的提拉诺博士提供。”贾丝敏耸耸肩，喝了一口水。“这个机器与人脑的接口，是他们的阶段性成果之一。我不清楚我走了之后，他们又推进了多少。”

“你凭记忆就把这个装置重新造出来了？”

“我是武器天才，但就算去掉‘武器’两个字，我也一样是天才。”贾丝敏这么谦虚的人，才不会自吹自擂。“所以我才对你时空收音机的脑机接口感兴趣。用手动操控时，我作为人类的反应速度没法完全跟上装甲。但如果有个完美的接口……”

“我突然想到一个问题。”瑞恩说，“如果我们俩各戴一个接口，连上对方的大脑，然后干点少儿不宜的事，会怎么样？”

她狡黠地笑着看他，轻轻吻了他一下。“出于科研需要，我们必须试试。”这位天才说完，随手扔掉空水瓶。她的男朋友暂停时间，把瓶子放进了垃圾桶。“不过得等之后了。差不多该去伊斯基亚岛了。”

“你觉得我的羊绒西装能挡住辐射吗？”

“不能。”她冲他坏笑。“但我的机甲能。”

真是所向披靡的组合。

今天要对伊斯基亚岛的外围防线进行检查。虽然瑞恩不被允许进入超级实验室内部，纳尔西妮娅还是请他过来探望。她在岛上大概相当孤单。

不过奇怪的是，莉维娅不仅批准了，还让伏尔甘带上“额外的武力支援”。

“我还是不懂公主为什么要你过来，没别的意思。”贾丝敏说。

“我也看不透她。”瑞恩承认。他总觉得莉维娅有自己的盘算，把底牌藏得严严实实。仅仅是好奇两人的能力如何相互作用，解释不了她的全部行为。“你知道她的能力是什么吗？”

伏尔甘摇头。“她捂得很严。我只知道她算是个准预知者，能与平行宇宙互动，但她从不声张。”

考虑到瑞恩正打算炸掉这座岛，好完成与透明先生的交易，她显然看得不够远。况且，在突袭废料场出了岔子的那几轮里，伏尔甘也没收到过任何战术建议或警告。

要么莉维娅在自己的能力上撒了谎，要么它有很苛刻的限制。

“这次检查纯属浪费时间。”贾丝敏发着牢骚。“那座超级实验室的防御几乎赶得上这间军械库了，而且我这里还不闹鬼。想拿下那里，得带上一支军队才行。”

这挑战，他接了。

还有，如果迪纳米斯当真有大脑上传项目，瑞恩也得去拜访一下。蕾恩已经把她的通信系统设计图发了过来，但这就相当于收到了汽车的电脑部件，却没有发动机、轮子，以及其他所有东西。

如今看过伏尔甘的装甲设计后，瑞恩已经将它记了下来。如果能把蕾恩和贾丝敏的技术结合起来，接上时空收音机，再偷来迪纳米斯现有的任何大脑扫描设备……也许他就不用再孤身一人了。

很久以来，瑞恩第一次感到了希望。

---

伊斯基亚岛曾经是个天堂。那是一处坐落于那不勒斯湾中的美丽度假胜地，欧洲各地的游客都会来此享受温泉和新鲜空气。

可不知从何时起，这座传说中的天堂成了人间地狱。

瑞恩不知道梅克隆为什么要轰炸这座岛，但他炸得确实很彻底。时隔十五年有余，紫色瘴气仍笼罩着岛上大部分区域，犹如剧毒的瘟疫，杀死了那里的一切生命。植物、动物、人类……这种物质的毒性和放射性把整座岛变成了坟场。装有风力涡轮机的厚重铁墙环绕着伊斯基亚岛的海岸，也许是为了阻止瘴气飘向大陆。

岛上唯一还有生命迹象的地方，是一座始建于公元前的堡垒——阿拉贡城堡。城堡建在一座火山小岛上，原本通过一座石桥与主岛相连，但桥毁了之后便一直没有重建。与岛上其他地方形成鲜明对比，城堡外围长着植物；疯长的草木与猩红色的异样花朵环绕着整座堡垒。

伏尔甘在防御上也毫不吝惜。古老的石墙上布满无人炮塔，还配有自动防空设施。身穿动力装甲的喽啰们守卫着这座设施，装备了火焰喷射器、转管机枪和火箭发射器。瑞恩得拿出一轮专门送死，才能闯过外围防线。

从罗马人到那不勒斯王国，阿拉贡城堡自建成以来见证了无数主人来来去去。但把它改成制毒实验室的，奥古斯蒂还是头一家。

伏尔甘的机甲没有受到防御设施阻拦，顺利降落在外墙上，瑞恩从中走了出来。令他颇为惊讶的是，这里的空气竟然可以呼吸，想必是环绕实验室的变异植物的功劳。

他发现莉维娅正在不远处等候，满怀向往地凝望地中海。麻雀和莫蒂默担任她的保镖。

“快存，伏尔甘，欢迎。”伏尔甘从装甲里出来时，莉维娅礼貌地向两位来客问好。身穿装甲的士兵立即上前检查瑞恩，以防他偷带什么危险物品上岛。好吧，是比平常更危险的那种。“谢谢你们准时到达。”

“集体参观嘛，当然得赶上。”瑞恩面无表情地说。

“可怜的莫蒂默参观完，连免费糖果都没捞到。”莫蒂默抱怨道。

“恐怕不能让你进去，快存。”莉维娅说，“这座设施的内部运作属于最高机密，只有精英成员有权知晓。你要留在外面，万一我们遭到袭击，就协助这里的工作人员。”

“就不能给我个制冰毒的实习岗位？”信使问。

“不能。不过等我们忙完，我相信纳尔西妮娅会带你逛逛花园。”莉维娅答道，随后对着一处空地开口。“幽魂，请出来吧，别害羞。”

一阵冰冷的风掠过外墙，一颗房屋大小、由黄色灵质构成的骷髅头浮现在众人上方。彩色尘埃与诡异能量化作旋涡，围绕着这狞笑的鬼影不断盘旋。

“嗨，各位。”

然而，这幽灵轻轻细细、随随便便的嗓音，与他阴森的外表完全不搭。也没人对此大惊小怪，或许是因为他们生活的世界里，多的是比这更离奇的东西。

“谁去叫一下捉鬼敢死队。”瑞恩说，“我们这里闹鬼。”

“我是弗朗索瓦。”巨大的骷髅头随意地答道，“也可以叫我幽魂。”

“我更喜欢叫你幽灵卡斯珀。”瑞恩说，贾丝敏听了直笑。“还有，你名叫弗朗索瓦，却用个德语外号？你不会是那种憎恨自己出身的法国人吧？”

“我考虑过叫幽灵，可惜詹姆斯·邦德抢先一步。”

“你的存在本身，就意味着一大堆可怕的事。”伏尔甘说，“也就是说，这世上还真他妈有个死后世界。”

瑞恩个人觉得这不过是黄色灵药在搞怪，但卡斯珀似乎赞同她的说法。“天堂到处都是黄色和金色，虽然我只瞥见过一眼。”幽灵说，“我一直在想办法回去，但到现在，那扇门还是关着。希望托尔克神父能成功驱除我这个幽灵吧。”

“你试过自杀吗？”瑞恩提议，“我知道这不太符合天主教教义，不过你也许可以附在尸体上，再杀自己一次？多试几次，说不定就能死成了。”

“能试的我都试过了。”

“火烧？上吊？核爆？”

骷髅头沉默了片刻。“最后那个没试过。”他承认。

“你也不会去试。”莉维娅说，语气陡然严肃起来。“我不会允许的。”

“不过，最糟糕的死法还是火烧。”幽灵卡斯珀坚持道，骷髅头打了个寒战。“肉被烤熟的滋味太痛苦了，痛得你都会变成素食主义者。”

“论自杀方式，上吊绝对是最好的，其他根本没法比。”瑞恩说，“虽然很痛苦，但只要弄对了，还会有种古怪的快感。不过得试上很多次才能掌握诀窍。”

“每三次自杀尝试，只有一次成功。”莫蒂默阴恻恻地说，“我真替另外两次难过。”

“莫蒂默，别给他们帮腔。”麻雀责备道。

“幽魂，请留意入侵者。”莉维娅开口，让所有人都安静了下来。“今天的形势不太妙。我能从自己的视角感知平行现实，但最近，其中很多都黑了。”

“黑了，是说你把灯关了？”贾丝敏面无表情地问。

“黑了，是说我在那些现实里死了。”她说这话时，那份淡然与快存本人如出一辙。“死得太快，连原因都没看清。”

“好吧，这可不是个好兆头。”瑞恩说。

“我再说一遍。”伏尔甘不以为意。“来进攻这里，就是找人帮忙自杀，公主。”

“那就检验一下这句豪言吧。”莉维娅笑了笑，随后望向快存。“我们稍后再见。”

贾丝敏跟着奥古斯蒂的公主和她的保镖走进设施，把瑞恩与卡斯珀留在了外面。信使望着大海，心里只有一个简单的问题。

他该怎么把这座岛炸掉？